Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 135

‘It’s dangerous to take it directly to the danjeon like this.’

Like a river washing away pollutants, he used his internal energy to circulate and cover the poison energy.

Although described as washing away, the poison was also part of the great river.

It was like how even the most vicious water snake eventually becomes part of the ecosystem within the river.

Woong-

After assessing the opponent, he attempted to embrace it.

Jin Cheon-hee’s complexion, which had been changing wildly, gradually stabilized and began to return to its original milky color.

‘Losing composure means death.’

While spiritual medicines clearly exist to make one stronger, why must one risk their life?

In martial arts novels he had read since long ago, the protagonist would swallow spiritual medicines prepared to burst their qi and blood if taken incorrectly.

It was the same in Supreme Heavenly Demon.

Not only were opportunities to gain strong power rare, but to grasp them, one had to offer a part of oneself.

In a way, it was like the metamorphosis process of insects.

From a poisonous caterpillar to the most vulnerable pupa stage, and finally emerging with wings.

‘To gain wings, one must risk their life.’

Wasn’t it the same in his previous life? It wasn’t any different.

Countless cases of people blinded by greed for higher positions, offering up their wealth, family, and friends, only to fail and commit suicide.

‘Fortunately, here I only need to stake my own life.’

Jin Cheon-hee smiled bitterly as he continued his energy cultivation.

***

How much time had passed?

Jin Cheon-hee let out a small breath and opened his eyes.

Woof! – Master, I’m hungry!

As soon as Jin Cheon-hee uncrossed his legs, Hwanggu licked his face.

“Alright, alright.”

Woof, growl! – No one came while Master had his eyes closed.

It was likely, given how well-hidden this place was.

The Black Armored Centipede’s inner core was as extraordinary as he had heard.

‘Half a Gapja this time, is it.’

With this, Jin Cheon-hee’s internal energy reached one Gapja and forty years’ worth.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that throughout martial arts history, there were hardly any martial artists who accumulated internal energy at this rate.

‘Except for Little Heavenly Demon, who’s the protagonist.’

Still, in terms of pure internal energy quantity, he might be a step ahead.

At least at this point, it was certain that Jin Cheon-hee possessed superior internal energy.

Jin Cheon-hee thought so.

As he stood up and looked down at the surrounding landscape, he could clearly see the foot of the mountain.

‘A terrain where you can’t see in from the outside, but can clearly see out from the inside.’

Moreover, it was good for hunting prey, and a little further down there were human dwellings, making it good for eating people too.

It was a suitable place for the Black Armored Centipede to make its lair.

Jin Cheon-hee used lightning energy in one hand and ice energy in the other, without drawing his sword.

The stage before firing sword energy.

However, holding it without releasing it required considerable control ability.

Eventually, with a “poof” sound, a clumsy sword energy was released.

He couldn’t control the overflowing internal energy.

“Should I train a bit more before leaving?”

Unlike where he learned the Dual Mind Technique, this place was optimal for training.

Moreover, there was still Black Armored Centipede meat left, and our animal friends wouldn’t stop until they finished it off.

Jin Cheon-hee stretched widely and said,

“I wonder if I could make something like jjapaguri with Black Armored Centipede, or at least something similar?”

Woof? – What’s jjapaguri, Master?

Peep peep. – It must mean some incredibly delicious food!

Squawk cheep!! – Just one bite! Let me have just one bite too!

Already they were clamoring.

Jin Cheon-hee decided to train here for a while until he could control his internal energy.

And that evening’s dinner was Central Plains-style Black Armored Centipede jjapaguri.

“Guys! I think I might have a talent for cooking.”

And the leftovers were stir-fried and mixed with rice.

***

Time passed like that.

“Have you guys gotten fatter… or bigger?”

They had finally almost finished eating the enormous Black Armored Centipede.

Jin Cheon-hee cut the Black Armored Centipede’s shell and made it into a round pot for Chinese cuisine. He made it into a fire pot.

It was perfect for making a fire pot, being light, sturdy, and with high heat conductivity. Jin Cheon-hee loaded this fire pot onto Hwanggu’s back.

Woof! – Master, I want to eat more.

“I’ll make soup with the remaining jerky for you.”

The Hwanggu before him had now grown even larger than a wolf.

Of course, his muscles had grown too, but his overall round shape remained, making him closer to a bear than a wolf.

He reminded one of children’s playground equipment on Earth.

Like those coin-operated ride-on toys in large supermarkets that play music and move with a child on top. Exactly that size, that chubby form.

‘He could easily carry a child on his back now.’

With his short legs typical of a country dog, big eyes, and chubby cheeks, he looked even more so.

Screech. – This morning’s breakfast was delicious too!

“I’m glad you liked the spicy knife-cut noodles.”

Noe-jin fluttered its wings and perched on top of Jin Cheon-hee’s head.

It had always been weighty, but now it was even more so.

Jin Cheon-hee said,

“If you’re going to perch on me, please reduce your size a bit. I need to see the sunlight too.”

Peep peep! – Understood.

At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, the Heavenly Thunder Hawk, Noe-jin’s body twisted with a cracking sound.

It was as if it used a kind of muscle contraction technique with its spiritual creature body.

Noe-jin’s body became considerably smaller. The same went for its chicks.

Cheep! – Mom, hunting is fun!

Peep peep! – When’s lunch?

The chicks had grown quite a bit now too.

According to Noe-jin, Heavenly Thunder Hawks normally raise their chicks for several years.

Thanks to consuming the Black Armored Centipede, their growth rate was faster than ordinary Heavenly Thunder Hawks.

‘Even so, Heavenly Thunder Hawks are so few in number that encounters between males and females are rare.’

Finally.

Jin Cheon-hee looked at his reflection in a small spring.

The boy’s face had almost disappeared, replaced by a young man’s face.

He was well aware that martial artists generally mature faster than ordinary people.

With one Gapja and forty years’ worth of internal energy packed in, Jin Cheon-hee’s bones and muscles had grown as well.

“Getting stronger is a good thing.”

He entrusted the remaining hard shell of the Black Armored Centipede to a nearby branch of the Cloud Dragon Escort Agency.

Surprisingly, there was a branch even in this small village.

‘Next is the White Immortal Ginseng^[1], I guess.’

There were four more spiritual medicines that Yeo Ha-ryoon’s enemies would consume.

With his growth rate exceeding expectations and the help of Hwanggu and Noe-jin.

Adding this, the plan had changed.

Since it had come to this, he intended to eat as much as he could.

‘Ha-ryoon. Your big brother will eat up everything your enemies might eat in advance.’

Indeed, I am a true older brother.

How can there be such a brother in this world? Jin Cheon-hee marveled at himself.

And there was one more thing.

‘The Blood Immortal Sect was stronger than I thought.’

In any case, they were likely to find Jin Cheon-hee’s trail.

Considering the Black Lightning Blood Demon, who wasn’t even a mid-level but a working-level executive, there was a need to become stronger quickly.

‘Moreover, they’re the type who don’t hesitate to self-destruct.’

Even in modern Earth, there have always been those who strap dynamite to themselves and carry out suicide attacks for their religion.

This world was no different.

After facing the Black Lightning Blood Demon’s final manic gaze, his resolve hardened even more.

‘Just… just don’t use children.’

In Africa and the Middle East, it wasn’t uncommon to wrap bombs around children’s bodies and send them into enemy territory.

Children were weak and innocent.

When adults brainwashed them that they would go to heaven if they died, they believed it was right.

They were afraid of dying, but more afraid of returning and facing violence.

The martial world was the same.

It’s common to kidnap young children, brainwash them, and use them as tools for the sect.

If a child appeared and used a self-destruct technique, he felt his mental state as a doctor wouldn’t survive.

‘It might just be my assumption. But what if it actually happens?’

To prevent that, Jin Cheon-hee thought he had no choice but to become stronger.

‘Master said it. Power simplifies everything.’

The government doesn’t interfere with the martial world, and the law is far while the sword is near.

An era of barbarism.

Humanity was still wandering in hell.

Woof? – Master, your expression is strange.

“Hmm. I was thinking about what to do next.”

‘Alright. Let’s do this.’

Jin Cheon-hee’s form vanished from that spot in an instant.

One Gapja and forty years of internal energy. Add to that the Five-Elemental Divine Technique and the Wudang Sect’s Dual Mind Technique, and his speed was unparalleled.

Surprisingly, the spiritual creatures followed such a Jin Cheon-hee.

Their speed and tracking skills were impeccable.

***

Woof? – Aren’t you coming out?

Peep peep! – But I like sitting here!

Noe-jin clung tightly to Jin Cheon-hee and wouldn’t let go.

Its sneaky behavior was exactly like the parrot he had seen on YouTube in his previous life.

Fortunately, Noe-jin wasn’t a destruction king, so apart from plucking a few of Jin Cheon-hee’s hairs, it was fine.

Stopping by a nearby village, he reported to Master that he had gained one Gapja and forty years’ worth of internal energy, and prepared another gift.

No master would dislike their disciple growing so rapidly.

A proper master should kick up their heels and tell them to go wild even more, but Jin Cheon-hee’s intention was to slightly suppress his master’s worry.

‘I’m sure he’s doing well…?’

Although he couldn’t receive replies due to constant movement, Jin Cheon-hee believed his master was doing well.

The people around him might be grinding their bones in frustration, but that was okay.

That’s what a typical master is like.

Fearing his master might only eat fasting pills, he earnestly requested that he at least eat some simple egg porridge.

Jin Cheon-hee knew that if he pleaded this earnestly, his master would reluctantly eat it while telling him to stop his tricks.

‘He likes that I worry about him too.’

He has some childlike aspects, secretly.

After sending letters and items to the escort agency like that.

He set off again.

White Immortal Ginseng!

One of the four great spiritual medicines.

He arrived at a deep mountain where the path was cut off after destroying several mountain strongholds along the way.

‘The White Immortal Ginseng is said to be at the waist of a mountain range that looks like a crouching tiger when viewed from above.’

In fact, this level of clue is really vague.

It would normally take about a month of constant tracking.

This alone was progress, but Jin Cheon-hee decided to take advantage of it.

Jin Cheon-hee used Noe-jin to look around for a long time to find a mountain range similar to what was described in the novel.

Then he fed jerky to Hwanggu and ordered like this:

“Find anything that smells similar to ginseng somewhere around here.”

Jin Cheon-hee had Hwanggu smell ginseng and then let him loose.

And Jin Cheon-hee followed behind.

Woof! – Master, this!

“Hmm, this is just… wild ginseng. Let’s use it for Master’s nourishment.”

There were several near misses that weren’t quite misses.

And finally, under a cliff, in a pile of fallen leaves beneath a large old pine tree, Hwanggu barked.

Woof! – Master, it smells like mushrooms too. Something’s strange!

Jin Cheon-hee carefully descended the cliff.

‘They said the efficacy decreases if the root is damaged, right?’

It’s okay even if it’s a miss. It can be used for Master’s health.

Jin Cheon-hee used wind energy with one hand to slowly scatter the fallen leaves.

At the same time, he used earth energy with the other hand to hold the ground steady so it wouldn’t shake.

Thanks to the training he did in the Black Armored Centipede’s cave, the one Gapja and forty years of internal energy, Five-Elemental Divine Technique, and Dual Mind Technique harmonized perfectly.

1. 백선삼(白仙蔘)[↩]